Flasher.



F. HOTCHNER,

FLASHER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. i915.

1,245,105. Patented om. 30,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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FLASHER.

APPLICATION men FEB.23.1`915. 1,245,105. Patented oct.. 30,1917.

3 SHEETSY-SHEET 2.

` l ,3y 37 A- Z IN VEN TOR.

F. HOTCHNER.

FLASHER.

APPLlcAnoN FILED FEB. 23, |915.

1,245,105. Patented om. 30,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WI TN IN VEN TOR.

UNirrm sauras PATENT orrion FRED HOTCHNER, F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 SYDNEY HOTC-NER,

OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNA. i

FLASHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Octe 30, 1917.

Application. filed February 23, 1915. Serial No. 9,873.

i will enable those skilled in the art to construct and use the saine. y

This invention relates to a asher for elec- Atric signs or kindred purposes and means of manufacturing same from a small number parts and so designed that changes, adjustments, replacements, repairs are very easily and cheaply made.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, provision must be made for the use of a great number of contact sectors or drums which are arranged in different orders, working under different conditions of load, and running at different speeds; also provision must be made for the mounting of the sliafting, gears, motor, etc., for the. drive ing of these sectors or drums.

Owing to the variety of work required of large flashers it has been a difficult problem to design a. flasher which will be universal.

An object of this invention is to provide means of securing the shaft bearings to the frame without the neceity of drilling or coring the frame.

Another o'bject of the invention is to provide a universal bearing holder which may be mounted to carry the shafting in any i manner whatsoever o'n the frame without the requiring special mechanical arrangements. were diilicult and expensive to make and as necessity of special castings or standard arts.

With. the flashers in use previous to this invention, owing to their method of 4carrying the bearings, shafting, etc., the great variety and number of parts required and the accuracy required in making the machines a general rule were built in such a manner that in order to Atake out one part it was very often necessary to dismantle the entire machine. As a consequence changes in effects, speeds, etc., replacements and repairs (an important factor in the cost of llashers) were diflicult to make and very expensive.

Another object of this invention is toprovide a bearing which may be accurately adjusted independent of the accuracy with which the frame of the machine is construct ed, and which will permit the dismounting of the shafting of the machine without disturbing the frame of the machine, and which p will permit the dismounting of one shaft without disturbing the other shafts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bearing which will permit changes to be made in the gearing of tlieimachine without the necessity of doing any drilling on the frame.

As thel great majority of flashers must be cared for b-y their purchasers, who very rarely thoroughly understand machinery, an object of this invention is to so simplify this construction -as to enable such persons to care for the machine. Owing to the great number of contact arrangements necessary considerable expense' is involved in having a great number of different parts to meet such contact requirements, so that a further object of the invention isto provide a universal wheel upon which the contact sectors may be securedin any position whatever on its periphery and which may be used tovcarry a small sector for one brush, or which may be used to form one end of the drum'for aJ nunrber of brushes and which will permit the making of many different kinds of contacts with a small number of parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for fastening the wheel to the shaft so that it may be perfectly/.true and concentric and will permit the makin accurate effects andwhich-will Lbe machined in a. single operation,

A further object of the invention is to provide means for fastening the contact wheel to the vshaft so that/its hub will be drawn into good electrical contact with the sleeve upon. which it is mounted around the entire periphery ofthe sleeve and not pulled olf on one side as is the case when a set screw is used to fasten such wheels to the contact sleeve.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable brush stop which will permit one relative setting of the brush holder and wheel to serve for the setting of brushes for the various classes of loads and degress of accuracy in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a base upon which the motor may be secured Without the necessity of drilling and which, in connection with the sound absorber (which is an insulator) makes it unnecessary for this base to be insulated.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for reducing the noise of the flasher by removing it from solid contact with the base upon which it is mounted and at the same time to insulate it from the base.

Another object of the invention is to provide a universal wheel for the production of the flasher drums which is capable of holding the segments thereon in any desired adjustment. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in the construction of the asher wheels or drums that it is necessary to assemble the contact segments upon the wheel and then move the segment as may be required to give the desired lighting effect. It is, therefore, necessary to provide means whereby the segment may be secured to lthe wheel and may be moved through the entire periphery thereof if required, since if any portion of the wheel will not permit the adjustment to be made that is almost sure to be a point at which the adjustment is necessary. n

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing in which the same reference numeral is applied to the same portion throughout, but 1 am aware that there are many modifications thereof.

Figure 1v is a plan view ofthe complete machine with a motor mounted thereon,

Fig. 1A shows the manner of securing the flasher to the foundation upon which it may be placed,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation 0f the machine, the frame being cut on the line'2v-2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the machine on the line 3 3, Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the contact drum known as the feed wheel,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the adjustable brush stop holder,

Fig. 6 is a 'side elevation of a slightly different form of fiasher showing one Way of applying a second countershaft for very low speed work,

Fig, 7 is a plan vievg1 of the asher shown in Fig. 6, V

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the pillow blocks showing the manner of securing the ball bearings in place therein, and

Fig. 9 is an end view of one of the pillow blocks.

The 4numeral 1 indicates an angle iron forming one side of the base, 2 being a similar angle iron forming the other side. The angle irons 1 and 2 are connected to the bottom of two standard frames 3 and 4. Each of said frames has a base member 5, diagonal brace 6, legs 7 and 8 and a horizontal connecting piece 9. The frames also have a slotted connecting piece 10 extending from the leg 7 to the upper end of the brace 6, the slotted piece being for the purpose of holding the brush holding bar 11 made of a suitable insulating material. The frame 4 in addition to having parts identically the same as the frame 3 has two upwardly extending posts 12 and 13, said posts being for the purpose of mounting such other shafting as may be'required to operate the machine.

The foot of each frame is provided with four open slotted ears 14, which slotted ears take suitable bolts 15 to'secure the frame to the angle irons 1 and 2. The angle irons rest upon two pieces of rubber tubing 16 and 17, said pieces. of tubing being c0nnected to the brace by means of insulating tape as indicated at 18, 19, 20 and 21. The two pieces of tubing are in turn secured to the foundation upon which the fiasher is to rest, usually a metal box, by means of a bar 23 having its ends turned down at 24 and 25 and suitably secured to the tube by means of :insulating tape, bolts 26 and 27 being placed adjacent the tubing to hold the, flasher in the desired position.

At the end, the bars 1 and 2 support a suitable block 28 which block has a large number of slots formed therein to enable the motor to be mounted thereon in any desired position regardless of the size of the motor base or the position of the holes therein.

The fiasher contact wheels and drum are mountd upon a shaft 30, said shaft being covered with a fiber insulating tube 31 surrounding which is a brass tube 32 to act as the conductor in transferring the current from one wheel to another. The shaft is mounted in ball bearings of a well known standard type as indicated at 33 and said ball bearings are held in the adjustable pillow blocks 34.

- The pillow blocks comprise a flanged base 35, a cover plate 36 and a back plate 37,

suitable screws 38 being used to connect the cover plate to the base and other screws 39 being used to connect the base and back plate when it is desired to clamp the bear ing on the frame of the flasher.

In the construction shown there is a feed wheel 40, a segment wheel 41 and two wheels 42 and 43 for the support of the drum 44. The shaft 30 is held in a fixed 'position between the bearings supporting it by means of two collars 45 and 46 and on its overhanging end it has a worm wheel 47 which meshes with the worm 48 on a cross shaft 49. The cross shaft 49 is mounted in two of the-pillow' blocks 34, which blocks clamp in an upright position to the arms 12 and 13. Suitable collars 50 and 51 hold the shaft 49 in the given position and at its end it carries vfrom the the strains thereon, while at the same time they allowy the segments 60 and 61 to be secured thereto in any desired peripheral adjustment, the spokes' being connected to the two rims by means of a fork as indicated at 62 in Fig'. 4, said forkbeing just wide enough to permit the nut on the screw which secures the segment in place to pass through without turning, so that when it happens that one of the bolts has its nut placed in position on the screw 63, Fig. 3, that it is unnec* essary to use a Wrench to tighten the saine. The hub is split on one side and has two ears 64 and 65 through which the bolt 66 passes, there being such an amount of metal from the ears to the two nearest ladjacent spokes i as` to permit the necessary tightening of the hub on to the shaft.

The object of this construction is to enable the contact wheels to be very cheaply constructed, the only turning necessary being to turn the periphery thereof true after the wheel has been clamped on a mandrel of this same size as the tube it is finally to be placed upon, for whatever distortion there `may be when the clamp has been tightened is duplicated after the Wheel is finished, so it remains a true circle.

It is to be observed that the so-called feed wheel has two complete segments 60 and 61 bolted on the wheel. The wheel 41 is provided with two segments 67 and 68 eX- tending on the opposite sides thereof, while the wheels 42 and 43 support a `steppedv drum 44.

The bar 11 carries two supports 69 and 70, which supports have screws 71 and 72 forsecuring them in a given place on said bar and they each have a slot 73 at the other end to receive a rod 74 on which a tube of insulating material 75 is placed, said tube yforming a rest for the brushes 76 to 80 inclusive. The brush 81 having its free end resting on the contact wheel remains always in contact and does not strike the tube 75 at any time.. In order to adjust the position of the tube 75, screws 82 and 83 are proy vided which enable the finer rod to be raised or lowered as may be required by the particular construction of the machine.

Each of the brushes are held by clampsl Q84 which have an opening therein large enough to pass over thebar 11 and which are secured in a given place on said bar'by means of a set screw 85. The upper portion of each of said clamps is flanged at 86 and 87 to prevent the brush held thereby from working sidewise and' at the back said flanges are joined by a cross bar 88, which bar has two set screws 89 and 90 therein to hold the brush in the given adjustment. Since it is often necessary to provide several series of contact wheels and drums running at dierent speeds an illustration of one way of supplying that diiferent speed requirement is illustrated for the shaft 90, as well as an illustration of how that shaft is connected to 'the frame of this machine. The shaft 90 is supported at one end by one of the pillow blocks as indicated at 91 and it is'supported at its' other end by a similar bearing not shown on the adjoining machine. Collars 92 and 93 hold the shaft in a given longitudinal adjustment and it has a gear 94 thereon in mesh with a gear 95 on the shaft 30. 'i

1n Figs. 6 and 7 there is illustratedV a flasher 'of slightly different form from that illustrated in F ig. 1. 1n these figures 10U indicates one of the side rails and 101 the other side rail upon which the several parts are mounted. The rails 100 and 101 are connected by means of a cross block 102 with the motor M, cross bars 103 and 104 for the support of the countershaft and the two frames 105 and 106, said frames being of the same form as the frames illustrated in Fig. 1.

The countershaft 107 is supported in bearings carried by the pillow blocks 108 and 109, which pillow blocks are supported on two inverted 'U shaped supports 110 and 111, which supports are bolted or otherwise secured to the cross bars 103 and 104. r1`he countershaft 107 has a pulley 112 'thereon over which a belt 113 from the motor pulle 114 extends. At the other end of the sha' 107 there is a small pulleyv115 around which a belt 116 extends to a pulley 117 on the worm shaft 118.

The worin shaft 118 is carried by bearings in the 'two pillow blocks 119 and 120, which pillow blocks are clamped to the upwardly extending posts 121, 122 of the frame 105. The shaft 118 carries a worm 123 in mesh with a worm wheel 124 on the contact wheel shaft 125. The contact wheel shaft is carried by bearings inthe pillow blocks 126 and 127 and the feed wheel 128 thereon is of precisely the same construction as the feed wheel shown in the previous form of the invention, while the drum 129 carried 'by the wheels 130 and 131 has steps for four brushes. The brushes .are indicated at 132, 133, 134 and 135 inclusive and are secured to the insulating bar 136 by means of the clamps 137, one for each brush.

The insulating bar 136 has two supports 138 and 139 for the brush stop 140.

The frame of this machiney is carried by two rubber tubes 142 .and 143 which are taped to the rails in four places as indicated at 144, substantially as in the other form of the invention, and a bar 145 secured to said tubes is used for holding the flasher in a given position.

The .adaptability of the construction illustrated is especially well shown in Figs. 6 and 7, in which flasher the motor is illustrate'd in a different position on the supporting block 102 from that of Fig. 1, while the location of the counter-shaft 107 is also different from that of Fig. 1 and the possibility'of using materials that are not necessarily standard is Well illustrated in the two latter figures. n

The pillow block is unnecessary to machine save that it has the screw holes formed therein since it is used in connection with bearings which may be simply clamped place and the pillow block may be shimmeduntil it occupies the proper position and may be moved either laterally or longitudinally to fit the given location, the bearings having a slight play for self-alinement.

I-Iaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows, modifications within the scope of the' claims being expressly reserved:

1. A wheel for flashers comprising a hub, means to secure the hub to a shaft, spokes, and a pair of rims connected with said spokes, and forming a slot around which a contact segment or drum may be placed, and bolted to said rim and moved to any given adjustment.

2. A contact wheel for flashers comprising a hub, means to Vsecure said hub to a shaft, a pair of rims, spokes connecting said rims ,and hub, a contact segment carried by said rims, and bolts passing through said segment and into the slot formed by the two rims for securing the segment to the contact wheel.

3. A flasher comprising a revoluble contact drum, frames for supporting said drum, an insulating bar connecting said frames,

lbrush holders through which said bar extends, brushes carried thereby, and an insulated rod against which said brushes strike when not in contact with the revoluble drum.

4. A flasher comprising a revoluble contactvdrum, frames for supporting said drum, a brush -holding bar connecting said frames, brush holders through which said bar eX- tends, brushes carried thereby, an insulated rod against which said brushes strike when not in contact with the revoluble drum, and means to raise and lower the position of said insulated rod.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of February, A. D. 1915, in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

FRED HOTCHNER.

Witnesses:

C. P. GRIFFIN, L. IFI. ANDERSON. 

